Home Rule Movement (1916–18)

Key Pointers

Background: World War I; Irish Home Rule inspiration; reunion of Moderates and Extremists at Lucknow (1916); Congress's inactivity during the war; Tilak's release (1914).
Two Leagues:
- Indian Home Rule League (April 1916), Poona/Belgaum, led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak; slogan: 'Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it'; operated mainly in Maharashtra (except Bombay), Karnataka, Central Provinces and Berar; newspapers: Kesari, Mahratta.
- All India Home Rule League (September 1916), Madras (Adyar), led by Annie Besant with George Arundale and B.P. Wadia; operated in the rest of India (including Madras, Bombay); newspapers: New India and Commonweal.
Goal: Self-government (Home Rule) within the British Empire, through constitutional agitation, public meetings, and propaganda in local languages.
Supporters: Jawaharlal Nehru, Motilal Nehru, Madan Mohan Malaviya, M.A. Jinnah, Chittaranjan Das, K.M. Munshi, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhulabhai Desai, Satyamurti.
Government response: Besant, Arundale and Wadia were interned in June 1917; protests (including by Sir S. Subramania Iyer, who renounced his knighthood). Tilak was banned from Punjab and Delhi and faced prosecution.
Montagu Declaration (20 August 1917): Promised responsible government as a goal and the 'progressive realisation' of self-governing institutions. Besant was released in September 1917 and became the first woman President of the INC (Calcutta, 1917).
Decline: Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms (1919) caused divisions (Moderates left); Tilak left for England (Chirol case, 1918); Besant's reluctance to join Gandhi's Satyagraha; the rise of Mahatma Gandhi (Gandhi became president of the All India Home Rule League in 1920).
Significance: Spread the idea of Home Rule/Swaraj to ordinary people, built a political organisation in villages and towns, and prepared the ground for the mass nationalist phase under Gandhi.

MCQs

Q1. The Indian Home Rule League of Tilak was established at: (a) Madras (b) Poona (c) Calcutta (d) Lucknow Answer: (b). April 1916.

Q2. Who was the first woman President of the Indian National Congress? (a) Sarojini Naidu (b) Annie Besant (c) Sucheta Kripalani (d) Madame Cama Answer: (b). Presided over the 1917 Calcutta session.

Q3. 'New India' and 'Commonweal' were newspapers associated with: (a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak (b) Annie Besant (c) Gopal Krishna Gokhale (d) Mahatma Gandhi Answer: (b).